Even before the flames had died out, public agencies in the volatile Lake Tahoe Basin began reviewing forest management strategies widely blamed for contributing to the devastating wildfire.

Complaints have focused on the alleged difficulty getting the permits needed to clear property overgrown with trees and brush. People also are demanding more vigorous efforts to clear fire hazards from government land.

Officials at the powerful Tahoe Regional Planning Agency promised a top-to-bottom review of its rules and procedures to make sure that nothing stood in the way of residents wanting to eliminate fire hazards on their property.

The U.S. Forest Service, which oversees vast tracts of public lands in the Tahoe region, said it has already moved to increase its efforts to clear woodlands under its jurisdiction of fire hazards. Funds are in place to double the annual amount of acreage that can be cleared, officials said.

Much of the anger since the fire is being directed at the planning agency and its regulations covering private-property owners. The agency, which was created in 1969 by an act of Congress to oversee development in the two-state Lake Tahoe region, has broad authority over construction and tree-removal in the region.

Julie Regan, the planning agency's communications chief, said some complaints had arisen out of misunderstandings, adding, "but we have committed to the community that if regulations need to be changed we are willing to do that."

"We're going to do a rigorous analysis of all our rules related to tree removal and vegetation just to make sure there are no roadblocks," she said.

Some of the rules singled out by property owners are illusory: pine needles, for instance, can be removed anytime, so long as erosion-prone bare ground isn't left exposed. Dead or downed trees can be taken out without a permit along with any living trees less than 6 inches in diameter.

By Monday, the Angora Fire was fully contained. It had burned 3,100 acres since it started June 24 and devoured 329 buildings -- including more than 250 homes.

Last week, when flames were still whipping through the Tahoe Basin and local residents sought someone to blame, public appearances by top representatives of the planning agency turned into shout-fests. Clearly stunned by the level of anger, officials expect to undertake "a whole new strategy of education and outreach," Regan said.

She admitted the planning agency has a reputation for being heavy-handed, but said procedures have been simplified greatly in recent years. Now, she noted, residents can go to local fire departments in most cases to get all the permits they need to clear away fire risks and create so-called defensible space on private property.

"The regulatory requirements aren't the problem," he said. "The lack of progress on defensible space is not because of any regulatory hurdles. Not everybody does it, but that's because of lack of awareness, and lack of funding."

Environmentalists, who also have come under attack, said they are all in favor of reducing the risk of fire by clearing brush and removing dead and dying trees.

"People are saying 'tree-huggers wouldn't let us cut down the trees,' " said Rochelle Nason, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. "But we hug old-growth trees. We want to see the largest and oldest living trees in the forest protected but that's not where the fire danger is centered. Old growth is a rarity in Tahoe. The young, dead and dying trees are the problem."

A goal of clearing the so-called fuel load from about 30,000 acres in the Tahoe Basin was set for the decade following President Clinton's save-the-lake summit at Lake Tahoe in 1997. Nason noted that only about half that amount of acreage was completed.

A 2002 study by the U.S. Forest Service, which manages about 80 percent of land in the region, estimated it costs $5,000 an acre, including overhead and indirect contract costs, to reduce fuel hazards on urban lots, and $3,500 an acre in the "wildland urban interface" zones.

Helicopters sometimes are needed to lift trees out of roadless areas. In places where trees might fall on power lines or homes, contractors have to climb up to cut them down in sections, starting from the top and working down. For prescribed burns, firefighting teams must be kept on standby.

Costly legal disputes have stymied forest-thinning efforts elsewhere in California, but evidently not lately in the Tahoe Basin. A Forest Service spokesman said there hasn't been a single "appeal or lawsuit" in the past 10 years over thinning projects.

He also said budgets have been adequate the past few years -- and are expected to increase.

Since fiscal year 2003, the agency has removed fuel hazards to reduce risk of wildfire from about 14,500 acres of the 160,000-acre Lake Tahoe Basin management area. About 40,000 acres still needs to be cleared of fire hazards.

Plans now call for clearing to be accelerated with a goal to take care of an additional 4,000 or more acres a year for the next 10 years. Funds appropriated by Congress will be supplemented by proceeds from land auctions for development near Las Vegas.

A guide for clearing Tahoe fire hazards

Private property in the Tahoe Basin is subject to regulation by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and other authorities. Here's a summary of some key points and resources:

-- Property owners are urged to remove dead vegetation, "ladder fuels" that allow flames to reach the crowns of trees, and to reduce dense shrubbery and flammable native plants within 30 feet of houses.

-- Pine needles and other flammable debris should be cleaned from roofs and gutters.

-- Bare ground shouldn't be left exposed after clearing, because of potential for erosion and runoff into Lake Tahoe.

-- Five of the seven local fire districts with jurisdiction in the basin will send inspectors to properties and issue permits for removal of trees property owners fear could be in danger of falling. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency handles permits in some areas. Call your local fire agency to find out whether it can handle permits and inspections.

-- No permits are needed to remove dead trees, downed or standing, or live trees less than 6 inches in diameter.

-- Open burning of brush piles may be prohibited because of air quality on some days, or fire hazards. Local fire officials can advise property owners as to the rules and appropriate agencies to seek advice.

-- For landscaping projects, no permits are required if less than 3 cubic yards of dirt -- about a pickup-truck load and a half -- is being moved. A relatively simple over-the-counter application to the planning agency is required if the amount is between 3 and 7 cubic yards, and permits are issued the same day. Larger projects require a more elaborate application and review.

-- Property owners can go to www.trpa.org and download a free Home Landscaping Guide for Lake Tahoe and Vicinity from the planning agency. Hard copies also are available.